


falter and fall

by Aoida_blue



Category: DCU - Comicverse, Red Hood and the Outlaws
Genre: Batman 17 spoilers, Hinted Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 06:14:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/683768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoida_blue/pseuds/Aoida_blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason doesn't think, Kori and Roy don't falter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	falter and fall

The whisky was cheap and it burned going down, chaffing his taste buds like sandpaper, rubbing them raw. By no definition of the word could Jason call it pleasant, but pleasant wasn’t what he was after.

It didn’t matter what it tasted like anyway. Whiskey tasted the same a few glasses in.

“Leave you the bottle?” The bartender asked, voice smoke-rough.

Jason grabbed a fifty out of his pocket and shoved it across the bar. A fresh unopened bottle hit the wood beside him, a bucket of ice along side it, and Jason muttered his thanks against his glass. 

The alcohol buzzed through his system, dampening the dingy bar, softening the edges. It made it easier after each glass to reach for the bottle again, made it feel like he blended in with each mouthful, just another sob story blending in with all the others Gotham bred and bled.

Jason pressed his hand over his mouth for a moment, feeling the hysteria quiver dangerously on his lips.

That was what he was anyway wasn’t it? Another sob story. Even now the Joker’s slick words-

No. No. Jason wasn’t thinking about that.

He poured out another dram, hand trembling.

Wasn’t thinking about that. Wasn’t thinking about Dick’s forearm around his windpipe, not that pipe he held above Tim’s head, not Alfred’s giggled plea-

Whiskey spilled over his fingers and Jason put down the glass and pressed his trembling hands hard against the sticky wood of the bar. 

Not thinking about that at all.

Not at all. 

Well. This was clearly working for him wasn’t it? 

Jason snorted, and plucked the glass and downed the rest of the whiskey. He put down the glass quickly, hands still unsteady.

Pathetic.

“Jay-bird.” 

Roy was up on the stool beside him, and Jason blinked dozily, he hadn’t seen Roy come in. Hadn’t heard him either and he was right beside Jason. The realisation he’d let his guard down wasn’t as shocking as it should have been, that Roy could have been anyone, could have done anything… The realisation should have been shocking.

Jason just didn’t care anymore. 

“Harper.” Jason acknowledged, poured out another glass, took a sip. 

Thought of nothing.

Nothing.

Huh.

The art of not thinking was easier around Harper. Jason could make a joke about that, but it even felt flat in his head. Roy was smart, damn smart, and Jason didn’t – he couldn’t- 

“Jason.” Kori acknowledged, and it could only be Kori with a hand that warm on his shoulder, “Would you like to leave.”

Leave? Jason eyed his glass, eyed the bottle still half-full.

“Yeah.” Roy breathed beside him, almost distant sounding, “A warm beach and unlimited hours of sunlight would be good right about now for a few weeks, just us three…”

Kori’s hand was on his shoulder, a grounding point, and Jason let his eyes falter.

“Leaving would be good.” Jason acknowledged, words sluggish and thick on his tongue.

And never coming back would be better. But Jason knew his fate, and Gotham’s hooks would never be so easily free of him. The bat symbol branded on his chest was deeper than just a costume.

“Okay then.” Roy hummed, like he was pleased, “We leave.”

Roy was under his arm before Jason could think about moving, guiding him off his stool with more care than Jason had seen before. The moment he was on his feet, Kori was taking his other arm, pressing in close, and then they were moving, moving like a well-oiled machine out of the bar.

Jason didn’t bother disguising how heavy his feet felt, how his eyesight swarm around him, how he weaved between their close bodies. 

It didn’t matter.

Roy and Kori didn’t falter. 

And Jason didn’t fall. 

 


End file.
